Fallen
by Daisuki Atticus
Summary: AU KxZ Zero and Ichiru are orphaned and living alone together. In an unfortunate discovery, Ichiru is in need of expensive medicine to cure an affliction. They don't have a lot money and it's needed soon. How much is Zero willing to do to get that money?
1. Chapter 1

This is a birthday fic dedicated to RoseLavenderRose. It's her birthday today! Happy birthday!

I should mention that I don't like this chapter very much. I'm looking forward to the future chapters though. I should mention that I haven't written in a long time and I know my writing isn't the best.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Vampire Knight. Never did, never will. Too much Yuuki-cest.

* * *

Ichiru coughed.

This cough was irritating. Very irritating. Of course, normal people would assume the same when they get sick. For nearly over a week, Ichiru had been sick and he wasn't very happy. It didn't help that he was feeling exhausted a lot and he was feverish at times. Ichiru had tried the chicken soup method for a few days in hopes that it would help his immune system, but lately he didn't have much of an appetite to have more than a few spoonfuls of the warm liquid.

Ichiru hoped it was just a normal bug and that it would go away fast. He didn't want to bother Zero just because he had a petty cold. Zero was already busy with trying to scrounge up enough money for their living arrangements and school tuition. Besides of the two of them, nobody lived in the lonely apartment.

Their parents had died when they were both young. The Kiryuu brothers had just come home from junior high school to see an unknown car parked in front of their house. When they entered the house, the shocking news of their parents' death was dropped onto them. The twins were never told how their parents died, only that they were involved in an accident. As a result, Ichiru and Zero were left orphaned and homeless. A family meeting was called shortly after the funeral to see which relative would take them in.

None of the relatives wanted to take them in. They gave excuses like how there was barely enough money on the kitchen table or how their children had upcoming entrance exams and didn't need to be bothered with newly adopted siblings. Ichiru didn't miss the hateful glares and the body language they gave off. This wasn't new to the twins. Actually, they were already used to this reaction.

Their relatives never liked the twins. In fact, they loathed the twins with a passion. From the moment they were born, the twins and their parents were isolated from the main house. Their relatives never invited them to family reunions, never visited them, never phoned them, just never contacted them in general.

Their relatives didn't like being forced to attend the family meeting.

They didn't want to be near the twins. They didn't want to see them. They didn't want to breathe the same air as the twins. They didn't want to know the twins were alive, that they were safe and sound.

They wanted them dead.

Ichiru and Zero had clutched each other's hand tightly for the support they desperately needed for the duration of the gathering. They knew why they were hated. It was part of the family tradition that twins were considered bad luck. Twins were considered the separation of one person into two parts; the division of one soul. They would never be complete, even to their death. Their luck would be divided, as would their fate. As fate could not be divided, the twins were just blank spots in the weaver's cloth of fate. Blank spots in the cloth would lead to the destruction of the fabric, which would dictate the annihilation of humanity.

Ichiru and Zero's parents didn't believe in fate. Their parents had set about trying to convince everyone to let the twins live. It was only by slight chance that the head of the entire Kiryuu clan allowed the twins mercy and separated them from the main branch.

For the most part, the twins lived with their parents happily. However, the brothers could remember times when they heard a sorrowful feminine cry in their parents' room at night. When they asked their mother about it the next day, she only gave them a sad smile and a short "It's nothing." The twins didn't believe a single word.

It wasn't until a few years later they discovered why their mother seemed so sad. In the end, Zero fought at the family gathering so that the brothers could live alone. None of their relatives argued with Zero, relived that the twins wouldn't be connected with them anymore.

The twins still had some of their inheritance to start off. Zero had given up his hopes of high grades in order to keep the cash flow coming. Ichiru tried to help bring in some income, but was scolded by Zero and told to study harder so that Ichiru could have a better life in the future. Ichiru was disgruntled, but he accepted Zero's reasoning without arguing.

While Zero worked away, Ichiru took care of the household chores. He went home as soon as school finished, to the inquiring looks of his friends. Ichiru had to buy the groceries, clean the house, do the laundry; the list was endless. To fix this, Ichiru made a schedule of his chores. He fixed it so that he would have dinner prepared as Zero came home. The two usually ate in silence, but both of them always made an effort to start a conversation, if not just pleasantries on the other's day.

Ichiru looked at the clock; 11:39. Zero was late today. Ichiru sat at the dining table with his stomach growling in hunger. Zero would scold him again for not starting dinner first, but Ichiru would wait. Ichiru liked to spend every moment he could with Zero. They didn't see each a lot otherwise. With a sigh, Ichiru got up to reheat each dish. They would be slightly dry, but at least they would be warm. Plus the temperature was dropping quickly at night recently. Zero would like something to warm himself up.

Ichiru let out a series of coughs on his way to the microwave. Each cough took a little more air from his lungs, making it harder to breathe. A particularly harsh cough ripped form his throat causing him to drop the plate. The crash sent jagged pieces of glass flying everywhere, but Ichiru didn't care about it for now; he was trying to get air into his lungs. Another painful cough raced through him, but this time was different. This time a wet sticky liquid landed on his hand. Ichiru grimaced out of realization but look anyway.

Blood.

A large splash of blood was spread onto his hand. Ichiru quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and was met with a long smear of red liquid. Ichiru coughed violently again, sliding down the kitchen counter to land with a thud on the slick tiles. This wouldn't do, Zero would be troubled when he got home to see Ichiru on the floor surrounded by broken pieces of glass and blood. Ichiru would have to clean this up before Zero got home.

Ichiru struggled to get up, pushing himself up using the kitchen counter only to fall on his knees. The lack of oxygen was starting to affect him. His legs were weak from the lack of energy and his arms didn't seem to want to support his body. His head felt light-headed and the world spun every which way, decorated with wild bright colours. Ichiru's vision kept fading in and out. Finally, the strain got to be too much and Ichiru landed forward amongst the shattered glass and cold food, his last thoughts were of his precious other.

'_Zero…_'

* * *

I will say this again. I don't like this chapter very much so it's prone to a re-write. I don't mind any flames. I hate this chapter too.


	2. Chapter 2

I apologize the lateness of this chapter. Halfway through I decided I didn't like what I had and cut out a huge chunk. Then after that I got a bit of a writer's block. = =; So I kind of doubled the chapter a bit. What I have here is also what I did not exactly like. I wish my intros could be a little more interesting, even to me. WHY MUST THE GOOD STUFF BE IN THE MIDDLE? *cough* hehe...

Oh yeah, I love you guys for reviewing *heart*. It makes me happy and more motivated. :)

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Vampire Knight. Never did, never will.

* * *

Zero closed the door quietly behind him tiredly. It was nearly 2 in the morning when he got home. This week had been crazy like heck. Customers flew in by the flock and there wasn't a time that any employee could even stop for a millisecond.

But Zero couldn't take any holidays if he wanted Ichiru to have a somewhat comfortable life. Anything that Zero earned was meagre and had to be used frugally to last until the next pay check. This basically killed Zero's life and left him little hours to spend to his desire. However, Zero had a solution to his problems.

Zero slept during school so he would be wide awake for his shifts after school. His teachers highly disapproved of Zero's behaviour and talked to him about it, even resorting to throwing things at him while he slept. However, Zero waved it all off with a nonchalant attitude. Zero's teachers also eventually stopped chucking things at him, but only because he began flinging the said items back at the teacher.

To the shock of his classmates, even when Zero slept through all his classes, his test scores still remained one of the highest in the entire class. They were very curious as to Zero's secret, but never questioned him because of his anti-social personality. Or rather, many have tried to extract the classified info, but all have failed. And got their asses whooped by Zero's fury.

Zero leaned against the wall while he took off his shoes. He noticed most of the apartment lights on. This was highly unusual as Ichiru always turned off the lights he didn't use once it was past 11. Zero frowned and wondered if they had any guests visiting. Zero rarely had any visitors for himself, but even if Ichiru had friends over he would typically restrict their stay to 10 pm latest. Zero could sense something wrong.

"Ichiru?" Zero called out quietly. For some reason, the twins had extremely good hearing and could pick up the most minuscule noises. It was useful when they had something to say to each other and had an audience.

"Ichiru? Where are you?" Zero had raised his voice to what normal people would call whispering. At this point Zero was listening to any sounds he could pick up. He could hear the slight buzzing of electricity running through the light bulbs. Outside the sounds of cars driving by and the faint train horn whistling sneaked past the cement walls of the apartment building to murmur softly into Zero's ears. Zero pushed open the bedroom doors and scanned the rooms quickly.

Zero's stomach seemed to be dropping to the pits when he approached the bathrooms door. There were no signs of guests at all; no extra shoes, no conversations in the air, even the TV wasn't on. Zero opened the bathroom door and called out his twin's name again. No twin in the bathroom either. Zero thought this was strange. Didn't he already check every room…?

That's when Zero snapped his head in the direction of the kitchen. He hadn't checked the kitchen yet! Zero raced out of the tiled room, almost slipping as he rounded the corner into the hallway leading to the kitchen. As Zero ran to the kitchen, he noticed several dishes set out; the food untouched. Zero mentally slapped himself on the forehead. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid. Are you blind, Zero?'

The first thing Zero noticed was the mixed smell floating around the kitchen. Zero waved it off as normal since Ichiru had cooked recently. It was after this thought that Zero stopped to look for Ichiru. Zero blinked in confusion, his eyes surveying the scene. Everything seemed to be normal except for a few things. The microwave door was open, the soft light glowing as if welcoming any glassware. The kitchen counter seemed abnormal with the couple plates sitting indifferent.

There was a plate of seasoned meat sitting in a slowly growing puddle of fat. Zero unconsciously thought that the food had been sitting out for a few hours. How long had Ichiru left the food unattended?

Zero wrinkled his nose in disgust. The smell perfuming the room kept bothering him. Or rather, it was a trace of the hidden smell. The scent held a metallic feel to it, like something you would commonly see in everyday life. As Zero pondered on it, he stepped further into the kitchen. His foot met with a cold mush and a tinkle of glass moving against the tile. Zero's eyes automatically zoomed in on the noise maker and the odd mush. He saw the recently-made food left on the floor. Zero also noticed little flecks of red droplets.

Blood, his mind supplied.

Zero followed the trail of food to meet a hand. His eyes quickly trailed up the arm to see Ichiru. Zero let out a surprised "Ichiru!" before rushing to his twin's side. The first thing Zero noticed was the smear of dried blood off the one side of Ichiru's mouth.

"Ichiru!" Zero shouted, panicked. He didn't know when Ichiru had fallen unconscious. Zero leaned forward and placed his ear next to Ichiru's mouth. He could hear the shallow breaths his brother took while watching Ichiru's chest rise and fall quickly. Confident his brother would live without the need of CPR, Zero thought out his options as they came to him. He could call the ambulance, but the ambulance usually took too much time to get to their location [**1**]. Option two flew into his head as a taxi. They took less than 10 minutes to get around. They would have to do.

Zero took out his cell phone and called the taxi provider. He waited impatiently while the dial tone kept ringing. 'Stupid taxi provider.' Zero thought. Finally somebody picked up. 'Yes!' Zero cheered inside, unknowing of the next few words.

"Hi, you have reached Haneda Taxi Cab Ltd. Please hold."

'No!' Zero yanked his cell phone from his ear and stared at it in shock. He hung up and tried again. Unfortunately for Zero, he had to call five more times before being connected and able to call for a taxi [**2**]. Having accomplished his goal, Zero glared at his cell phone in his hand thinking, 'I need to get a car.'

Zero turned around and checked up on Ichiru. His breathing seemed to have evened out a bit, but Zero was still concerned about his brother's wellbeing. Fainting on the floor with blood splattered near your mouth and having irregular breathing wasn't exactly settling.

Reluctant to leave his brother's side, Zero quickly ran to grab Ichiru's coat. It would be cold when Zero moved Ichiru to the taxi, then to the hospital. Zero draped the coat over Ichiru's shoulder before running to the apartment window and peering out to check if the taxi had arrived. It was the longest ten minutes in Zero's life.

Zero was impatient for the taxi. He paced back and forth from his twin's body to the apartment window. Oh how he wished he had two bodies so one could stay with Ichiru and the other to watch for the taxi. On another note, Zero would be able to work twice as hard to earn double the money! How sad it was that the world didn't work this way.

Zero's patience (or should it be impatience?) finally paid off when the next round at the window revealed the awaited taxi. As gently as he could, Zero carried Ichiru in a princess fashion out the apartment. Zero zoomed out the apartment and took the stairs, not willing to wait for the elevator.

When Zero ran out the apartment building's doors, the taxi driver was waiting for his customers. He leaned against the side of the car with the passenger door open. Zero slid Ichiru in the back seat and sat beside him, letting Ichiru's head rest on his shoulder. Zero closed the door and turned to the driver, who just got into the driver's seat, and barked out, "To the nearest hospital."

The taxi driver did nothing but nod his head, understanding where Zero's destination was. The driver signalled and merged into traffic, giving Zero, yet again, more silence to ponder on as his brother lay unconscious. Zero looked at Ichiru with worry.

Zero couldn't take it anymore. The slowness of the cab was killing his sanity. He dug into his pants pocket and grabbed a fist full of money. Zero shoved that fist in between the driver and the front passenger seat.

"Look, I'll give you all this money if you step on the gas. I'm in a hurry here." Zero growled, annoyed. He dropped the money into the front seat and flopped back into the backseat. The driver stared at the money in shock. He didn't have to count it to figure out that it was more than the taxi fare called for.

The cab driver tipped his hat with one hand, and turned to the road with a gleeful smirk.

"Yes, sir!" He made a big act of raising his leg to stomp on the gas pedal. All the passengers of the car jerked back slightly from the acceleration of the vehicle.

The taxi swerved around the other cars on the street, leaving some angry drivers to curse at the taxi. In the background Zero could hear plenty of horns blaring and braking screeches galore. Zero could almost swear that some cars had crashed in the taxi's trail of dust, but he wouldn't have bet money on that.

The taxi made it to the hospital in less than ten minutes. Zero stepped out of the taxi hurriedly, but grabbed the door quickly once he was completely out of the cab to support himself. He was a little dizzy from the acceleration to a sudden stop, but he did not want to show this weak side of himself.

Zero took a deep breath and turned around to retrieve his brother. He gently scooped up Ichiru and began to run the short distance to the hospital, leaving the passenger door open. The trip from the apartment to the hospital seemed to never end for Zero. It was like time had chosen to slow down JUST to torture Zero.

As soon as Zero ran in the emergency room, a nurse had already called for a stretcher. This surprised Zero a bit, but he placed Ichiru on the stretcher anyway. The team of doctors rolled Ichiru through a set of doors, away from Zero's sight. As much as Zero wanted to follow, a nurse went up to him with a clipboard of questions. She asked a few on how Ichiru came to be in his current condition, but Zero could only answer to most of them with "I don't know."

It took almost twenty minutes to fill out the questionnaire. Zero sat in one of the waiting chairs heavily. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep the day before and now the stress of Ichiru unconscious was zapping him of his remaining energy. Zero leaned his head back to relax against the wall. His eyes also felt the tiredness as well, and only closing them would take away the weariness.

It wouldn't matter that much if Zero closed his eyes for a few minutes. It wasn't as if he was going to sleep. He had taken up all-nighters before. This would be no biggy. He would be… ready at the slightest… signal of… Ichiru…

*_yawn_*

* * *

Oh, I have author notes...

**[1]** I think I heard that was the case. Or maybe it was just L.A. where traffic is more congested, probably?

**[2]** Ah, this story. It happened to me and two friends once. We were calling for a taxi ('cause my friend was using crutches for the time being and walking or getting a ride home was inconvenient) and we just kept calling and calling. It took so long that we had to keep rotating who was calling until someone caught a hold of an operator.

The next chapter might come out in a month or less? If it comes out in a month (or more), I'll try and make it around this chapter's size or more. I feel you guys deserve at least that much. R&R guys.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, never will.

* * *

"Mr. Kiryuu. Mr. Kiryuu, please wake up."

Zero jerked his head up, blinking rapidly to clear his vision. His eyes landed on a young nurse looking kindly at him. Zero rubbed away the sleep from his eyes before returning his attention back to the nurse.

"Awake, Mr. Kiryuu?" The nurse smiled kindly at him. "Your brother's fine now. Did you call your parents or guardians yet? The doctor would like to speak to them."

Zero stared coldly at the nurse. "I want to see Ichiru."

Startled by Zero's frigid disregard of her questions, the nurse tried again. "Sir, your brother is _fine_. The doctor would like to speak to your parents or guardians about Kiryuu Ichiru."

"Which room is he in?" Zero furrowed his eyebrows, annoyed that she would not let him see Ichiru.

"P-pardon?" The nurse blinked as her smile began to fade.

"I said 'Which _room_ is he in?'." Zero stood up suddenly, knocking the nurse back a few steps. If she would not show him where his twin was, he would go find Ichiru's room himself.

"He's in room 208. But Mr. Kiryuu! Wait!" The nurse called after Zero, who had started walking into the hallway after the nurse had told him the room number. "Mr. Kiryuu! Your parents – !"

"They won't come." Zero interrupted sharply. Why would they? His parents were dead and his relatives abandoned the twins. Of course, it's not like the nurse, or anybody else for that matter, would know. They were outsiders. Outsiders had no right to stick their noses in the Kiryuus' problem.

The nurse ran after him, "But sir, then you would have to see the doctor as Kiryuu Ichiru's family member."

"After I see Ichiru." Zero insisted. If only the pesky nurse would just shut up. She was like a fly buzzing around his head. Zero's mood just got fouler. He had enough on his plate already.

"Sir! Mr. Kiryuu! Please – "

"That's fine, Misaki. I can take it from here." A man walked around the corner, pivoting on his foot to swing around and face them. His white coat fluttered lightly, accenting his motions.

"Doctor … " Misaki looked at both men skeptically before turning and heading back towards the reception area to tend to other newcomers.

The doctor watched the nurse until she disappeared from his view before turning to Zero. Zero squirmed a little internally under the white coat man's gaze, but kept up his outer appearance of being unfazed.

The man smiled, "Kiryuu Zero, was it?"

Zero did not respond.

He continued anyway. "I am Fukui Kazuya, your brother's current doctor, and yours if you wish."

Zero mumbled something under his breath resembling "I don't need a doctor." and straightened up to look at Fukui head on.

"I want to see my brother." Zero repeated once again.

Fukui smiled and waved it off, "Yes, yes. We will go see him later. However," Fukui's face became serious, "the fact remains that I still need to discuss about your brother with you."

Zero stared at the doctor for a moment. He could tell that this argument was not going anywhere and neither of them was going to back down.

"You …" Zero started. He seemed to want to say something, but he could not express it in the many words he had on his mind. One of them was Ichiru.

Zero narrowed his eyes, unwilling to lose this stalemate, but he had to admit defeat, if only for Ichiru. Zero relaxed his stance, but his eyes remained guarded.

He walked up to the doctor with heavy steps, clearly unhappy. In an attempted to regain some of his masculine pride, Zero tilted his head up in order to look down on the doctor.

"Well? Spit it out. The faster we talk, the faster I can go see Ichiru."

Fukui's smile popped back onto his face. Stepping to the side, he motioned for Zero to follow him.

"Come; let's go to my office. I'm sure you would like your brother's privacy to remain confidential."

* * *

Zero sat in a white chair set to the side of Ichiru's bed, his hands clasped together propping up his head. Zero stayed quiet while watching Ichiru sleep. His eyes were watching Ichiru, but they were unfocused. Zero thought about the talk he just had with Dr. Fukui.

~_flashback_~

"I'll be straight with you; I'm not too sure what your brother has." Fukui faced Zero from behind his desk.

"I thought the nurse said Ichiru was fine." Zero replied sharply, his body tensed in his chair.

The doctor sighted through his nose and leaned back. As he thought out his next words carefully, he spun his swivel chair counter clockwise until he faced Zero again.

"Well, she is telling the truth," Fukui finally said.

"But, that's – "

" … or what she believes to be the truth."

This made Zero pause. Eyeing the doctor carefully, Zero approached this new knowledge with caution.

"What do you mean by 'or what she believe to be the truth.'? There's something you're hiding from her and me, isn't there?"

Fukui smiled mischievously. "You're a smart one, aren't you?" Zero didn't look impressed. Fukui coughed nervously under the cold glare of the silver haired boy.

"Anyway, as I was saying, your brother isn't sick with a virus or an infection. Everything that's happened so far is actually caused by a special poison that isn't well known by the general public. Only certain people know of it, in fact."

Zero's eyes widened at the word 'poison'. How had Ichiru become poisoned? "So what's this poison and how do you cure it?"

"That's the thing," Fukui laced his fingers together and rested his head on them while looking at Zero. "I can't deduce which poison Ichiru has. There are many similar variations of this poison, but each has their own specific antidote. I can't just guess at which one to try or I might end up poisoning Ichiru myself!"

Fukui grabbed a spare pen that was lying on his desk and started to spin it with his fingers. "Well, any and all information about it is high classified. It will be hard to get it, but I can probably get a colleague of mine to have his poison analyzed."

"So do it then." Zero stared blankly at the doctor. No, he wasn't dumbfounded. Wait, Zero took that back. He _was_ amazed how stupid and slow the doctor was.

Fukui arched his eyebrow knowingly. "Zero, this colleague is in America. The type of poison Ichiru has will dissipate if it leaves the host body for more than forty-eight hours. Any blood sample I try to send overseas will become useless to analyze. The only option I can do is to send your brother to America for a direct blood sampling. Are you willing to send Ichiru overseas?"

"America … " Zero muttered quietly to himself. He had though about his brother going abroad, but it never occurred to him that Ichiru would go to America because of a medical treatment and not because of an education or career advancement.

"Before you finalize anything about Ichiru going or staying, you need to know that this whole operation, analyzing and administrating the remedy, will be quite pricey." Fukui put down his pen and smiled gently at Zero.

"I'll let your brother stay in the hospital for a few days and you can discuss it between you two about Ichiru going to America." Fukui knew Zero would be a little hesitant sending his twin abroad. He had already arranged for Ichiru's stay ahead of time, just like _he_ said to do if anything ever happened.

"By the way, I'm just a little curious. Your brother, Ichiru, where did he frequent the most? Perhaps someone at school had something against him or a customer from work … " Fukui inquired. He might as well start investigating for _him_. Someone had dared to defy _his_ orders after all; to not harm the Kiryuu twins in any way, especially Zero.

"Ichiru doesn't work," Zero firmly stated. "I earn all the income. He just concentrates on school."

" … I see." Fukui murmured. "Well, why don't you go see how your brother is doing right now. I'll send for a nurse to see you there."

Fukui stood up and walked around his desk to help pull Zero up. With a gentle shove, he led Zero to the door. He quickly wished for Ichiru's quick recovery and Zero's good health before closing the door on Zero.

Zero scowled at the door intended for the doctor before walking down the hallway to find his twin.

"Weirdo." Zero muttered. He shoke his head slightly before approaching a nurse in hopes of getting positive results on his quest.

Zero hadn't heard the doctor make a private call to a certain man.

~_end flashback_~

Ichiru shifted slightly in hid bed, groaning softly as he tried to open his eyes against the bright lights. Zero snapped in attention as Ichiru attempted to sit up.

"Ichiru! How are you feeling?" Zero asked quietly, concern showing in his eyes.

"Ze-ro … ? Where … ?" Ichiru rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"The hospital, you dummy. What happened?" Zero huffed. Even though they were brothers, sometimes Zero felt like he was Ichiru's mother with all the worrying he did.

"Ehehe … " Ichiru rubbed his head nervously. "I kind of just remember coughing a lot and being dizzy."

"Stupid." Zero reached out to pinch Ichiru's cheek affectionately.

"Ah. Zero – that – kind – of – hurts." Ichiru said between the tugs on his cheek.

Zero laughed and let go of Ichiru's cheek. He ruffled Ichiru's hair before pushing his twin back into the hospital bed.

"Go get some rest, idiot." Zero murmured quietly.

"But – !"

"No 'but's. _Rest_."

Ichiru sulked before flopping back into his bed and rolling away from Zero. Silence overcame the room, leaving Zero to his thoughts once more.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi people! I'm really sorry about that HUUUGE break I took. I had a writer's block and halfway through the original third chapter, I decided I didn't like it and rewrote a big portion of it. (Doesn't that sound familiar) It didn't really help that VK wasn't story inspiring material during the recent Yuki-cest fest and hardly had any Zero appearances.

I apologize again, to you the audience and to Rose. I admit that chapter stories are quite challenge for me since this is my first one. I didn't quite expect it to be so difficult compared to one-shots. Again, I ask for your patience for this story, but I'll do my best to finish this story!

By the way, I wasn't going to post this chapter up yet and add more to it, but I concluded that if I didn't post it now, it wasn't going to up for a long time. So, enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Don't own VK.

* * *

When Zero woke up later that day, he found himself sleeping in the same hospital bed with Ichiru. This situation wasn't anything new to Zero. The twins had used to sleep in the same bed together when they were younger to stave off the loneliness that gnawed at their childish hearts.

Zero got off the bed with practiced ease, shifting his weight carefully as to not disturb Ichiru's rest. His feet lightly tapped the floor as Zero sat up onto the edge of the bed. A pair of worn-out sneakers lay near zero's feet as if it had been kicked off its owner's feet in a half-hearted manner. Zero put his shoes back on and tried to straighten his wrinkled clothes before quickly giving up his futile attempt.

"Zero, is it morning already?" Ichiru asked from his position in bed, all groggy from the sleep. Zero turned around in surprise, positive that he didn't wake Ichiru.

"Ichiru! Sorry, did I wake you?" Zero brushed Ichiru's bangs aside, his fingers ghosting over his brother's forehead. Ichiru shook his head and smiled at Zero.

"I've slept enough anyway. Sorry for worrying you like that. I'll be okay now." Ichiru replied as he sat up in bed to stretch his muscles.

Zero became quiet and stared into space for a while. The silence was deafening and caused Ichiru to fidget uncomfortable in the soundless noise.

"Zero?" Ichiru asked just to break the long pause and to catch Zero's attention.

"Ichiru, I think we need to talk." He clenched his hand into the bed sheets, taking a breath of courage before looking straight at Ichiru. The hospitalized twin stared at Zero quizzically.

"Uh… sure. What did you want to talk about? Ichiru asked, adding a smile after his question to try and ease the tension.

"…" Zero opened his mouth and paused for a moment before carrying on, "I heard from the doctor… "

Ichiru waited patiently for Zero to continue. Zero got up and walked to the window and looked out at the scenery. The sun was shining, the birds were singing; all completely different from how Zero was feeling.

Zero finally turned to face Ichiru, "He said that you were poisoned."

Ichiru blinked at Zero before propping his chin on his hand, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought long and hard.

"Maybe it was the chicken casserole we had last night. You didn't touch any of it so only I ate it. Didn't I cook the chicken thoroughly enough? Oh! Maybe the stove needs to be checked again. It might not work as well as it used to. Then again, there was that milk you left on the counter. You said that it was only there for about fifteen minutes… Could it be it was actually fifty minute? No, no, you wouldn't make a silly mistake like that… " Ichiru mumbled to himself, trying to think of any instances that he may have been food poisoned.

"Ichiru, it isn't food poisoning." Zero interrupted Ichiru's soliloquy. "It's actual poisoning. Something like cyanide or arsenic; those things."

Ichiru fell silent with a small 'oh'.

"The doctor also said that your poison was – special." Zero fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, "They can't help you in Japan. You'll have to go to America."

"America? But we can't afford that." Ichiru protested.

Zero shook his head, "No, you have to. Don't worry about the money; I can pay for it somehow. You just worry about getting better."

Ichiru opened his mouth to protest, his hands grabbing fistfuls of the bed sheets, but then he closed his mouth. He knew it was useless to argue. Zero usually had the final say in things.

"Are you coming with me?" Ichiru asked quietly. The two had never been separated before and he didn't want to start now.

"Of course!" Zero gaped at Ichiru, "I'm not leaving you alone when you can't even take care of yourself."

"I can so take care of myself!" the younger brother protested.

Zero snorted at Ichiru's weak claim. "Yeah, sure. Look where it got you into."

Embarrassed, Ichiru puffed his red cheeks out and crossed his arms in a childish tantrum. "Whatever. You can just take care of me for the rest of my life. You might as well lock me up in a room and control everything I do."

"I have half a mind to do just that, moron." Zero grumbled.

"What! Even when I masturbate?" Ichiru exclaimed, slapping his hand over his mouth in fake horror.

Zero face snapped back to Ichiru's from a random picture he saw propped on the bedside table when he heard Ichiru's remark. "Are you crazy? I was just kidding." Zero sputtered, caught off-guard. Ichiru snickered and flopped back into his bed.

"When are we going to America?" Ichiru sighed, suddenly tired from the loss of adrenaline.

"Soon; maybe in a week or so. I just need to finish some papers and pay for the treatment." Zero replied.

The doctor had told him the diagnosis and treatment were going to be expensive. It wasn't like the twins were dirt-poor and couldn't afford it; just that Zero didn't know how they would fare financially after the treatment. Could he still support Ichiru's education?

As if he was on the same wavelength as Zero, Ichiru suddenly shot up in a panic. He glanced around the room at a fervid pace, looking for a particular object.

"Shit! School! Zero, what time is it?"

Zero raise an eyebrow, "School's already over. I figured you wouldn't be released from the hospital yet so I called earlier and told them you had the flu."

"Oh… " Ichiru replied, blinking a few times. Figures that Zero would take care of everything… again.

"What about the notes and homework?" Ichiru asked, "I bet you didn't go get them" 'With me here and all,' Ichiru finished in his head.

"Feh, you can finish the homework when you get better and can get the homework yourself, lazy ass."

Ichiru stuck out his tongue in retaliation. "Like you're any better Mr. I-don't-need-to-study-to-ace-my-classes. I know you study between your work shifts."

Zero scoffed, "What do you do? Stalk me – ?

Interrupted halfway, the hospital door opened suddenly. A mob of teenagers clothed in the twins' school uniform began to crowd around Ichiru's bed.

"Ichiru! We heard you were sick!"

"With the flu!"

"We were gonna go over to your place – "

"Mikoto found out you were in the hospital – "

"Mikoto always finds things out first."

"Hey, where does Mikoto get his info from… ?"

"How are you feeling, Ichiru?" A girl asked softly, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

"Ah, I'm better. Thanks for asking, Maria." Ichiru smiled back. Maria handed a bag full of notebooks and textbooks.

Maria attached some words with the action, "I took notes for you. There's also the homework in there so you won't fall behind."

Ichiru thanked her again before resuming to answering the bullet-speed questions the rest of his friends fired almost too fast for Ichiru to slip a word in. As he looked at each friend in turn when he replied to them, Ichiru was suddenly all to aware of Zero glaring at the circle of adolescents. From the expressions on their faces, Ichiru could guess they all felt the icy stare, too.

Zero stayed for about twenty minutes before leaving. This surprised Ichiru since his brother usually sulked around trying to scare off Ichiru's friends and classmates. However he didn't have much time to ponder on that thought when his friends resumed the questionnaire.

* * *

Zero walked. Where he was going, not even the teen knew himself. From his mental calculations, he would have to get another job on top of the ones he already had to pay for the whole operation. The catch was that he needed a higher than average pay. He didn't finish high school yet so that eliminated a lot of choices. The rest didn't look too appealing either. They were basically night jobs. Not a time when little children should be wandering about.

Looking up from where his feet stopped, Zero gazed at a faded sign hanging above the shop door. '_Crossroads_, huh. Didn't think I would ever come back here again.' Zero grimaced at the thought.

Zero let out a sign while looking at the cursed door in disgust. Gathering all his courage together, he pushed the door open and stepped inside. The door chimes jingled softly in the background as Zero surveyed the bar. His eyes adjusted to the dim lights just as he spotted a man very concentrated on wiping what appeared to be a beer mug.

"The bar is still closed. Please return at a later time." The man automatically responded to the door chimes. Zero rolled his eyes at the bartender's message. He approached the bar, not bothering to hide the sound of his footsteps.

"Customer, I'll have to ask you leave. We don't open until –" The bartender looked up to his supposed customer, " – oh!"

The man lowered his towel and the beer mug onto the counter. "Zero! I wasn't expecting you. I thought you said you would never come back here."

Zero gave a wry smile, "That's what I thought, too."

"Well, you must have a purpose for you to come here on your own willingly." The bartender gave a pleasant smile, his glasses catching the little light in the room, hiding his eyes from Zero's view.

"Willing… ? No, I wouldn't say that. But I do have a purpose for coming here. One I hope never comes up again." Zero stopped in front of the counter and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I have a favour to ask you, Kaien Cross."

* * *

**A/N:** Geh. Sorry I haven't updated in almost a year. *shot* Thanks for all the continuous support guys. Your reviews really helped chug this chapter along. Do you think writing in first person would make this story sound better? I feel like I'm using Zero and Ichiru's names a lot.

My inspiration for VK is dying ever so slowly. Any ideas for rejuvenating my inspiration?


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